1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the various methodologies used in the building trades to attach gutters to eaves of buildings, and more particularly to a supplemental gutter support bracket which provides added strength to the gutter attachment system when used in conjunction with a conventional gutter bracket.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that safe and effective control of roof run-off must be carefully planned for during the construction of a building. Ordinarily in this regard, gutters are provided at the eaves of the building to capture water flowing down the roof and to direct it in a controlled manner to a preselected outflow location. Modern day gutters may be of aluminum, galvanized steel or plastic construction, and are generally of a cross-section characterized by a flat rear wall, a flat bottom, and a convexly curved (as seen from the exterior) front wall which terminates at its upper end with a U-shaped front wall which terminates at its upper end with a U-shaped member. One or more downspouts are provided which interface with the gutter to channel water to the ground at one or more preselected outflow locations.
There are several ways of attaching gutters to the eaves of a building. Commonly, gutter spikes are used to nail the gutter to a building structure behind the rear wall of the gutter. The gutter spike pierces the rear wall, and then penetrates into a building structure, usually a solid wooden board. Another approach is to utilize a conventional gutter bracket to hold the gutter to the eaves. A conventional gutter bracket has a main body which is sized to span the distance between the rear wall and the U-shaped member of the gutter. At one end of the main body is located a clip which slips over the rear wall of the gutter, and the other end of the main body is provided with a nose which is dimensioned to snugly seat into the U-shaped member. The clip is provided with an aperture. A spiral gutter bracket nail is typically used to hold the gutter to the eaves, whereby the nail is driven through the rear wall of the gutter at the clip aperture and into the building structure. Another variation of the conventional gutter bracket does not contain a clip at one end. Instead, the clip is replaced by a single upright surface.
While these two methods of installing gutters are quite common, each has one or more disadvantages. In the case of the gutter spike method, the spike head is visible from the outside and the support derived from the spike head alone may not be sufficient. When utilizing the conventional gutter bracket method there are no visible spike heads being visible from the outside in that the gutter bracket is hidden from view; but, the gutter bracket may slip out of alignment with the gutter as it""s being nailed and the gutter may be able to wobble on the gutter nail during high wind because a very long lever arm extends between the rear wall and the U-shaped member of the gutter. Also, due to the weight of the gutter and the span of the conventional gutter bracket, the gutter system will begin to sag over time and eventually become detached or in operable for its intended purpose.
In order to improve upon the aforementioned problems associated with the spike and the conventional gutter bracket methods, there have been various gutter support brackets which appear to solve at least some of the aforementioned problems associated with said attachment methods. Support brackets in the prior art generally consist of devices which either act as replacements for conventional gutter brackets, require additional attachment points to the gutter or eave, impede the flow of debris and materials within the gutter, or are at least partially visible from the ground after installation. Those support brackets which are not visible from the ground upon installation typically hang down into the gutter channel and tend to impede the flow of large debris down to the preselected outflow locations thereby eventually clogging said channel and causing the run-off to overflow the gutter channel thereby rendering the gutter ineffective for its intended purpose until such time as the clog can be manually remediated.
Accordingly, what is needed in the prior art is a supplemental gutter bracket that may be optionally utilized with a conventional type gutter bracket which provides additional strength while requiring no additional contact points with the eave or gutter, remains out of sight to the viewer after installation, and which does not impede the flow of debris within the gutter channel to the pre-selected gutter downspout.
The present invention is a supplemental gutter bracket which works in conjunction with a conventional gutter bracket to provide improved support while remaining out of sight to the viewer after installation which does not impede the flow of debris within the gutter channel to the pre-selected gutter downspout.
The supplemental gutter bracket according to the present invention is comprised of a bracket body which is further defined as having a tab for engagement with a conventional gutter bracket, an elbow portion, a rear attachment flange, and a penetrating means which extends through: the supplemental gutter bracket, the aligned aperture at the rear portion of the conventional gutter bracket, through the gutter, and into the eave of the building to which the gutter is to be attached.
When installed upon a conventional gutter bracket, the supplemental gutter bracket provides added strength thereto by triangulating the attachment points of the conventional gutter bracket with those of the supplemental gutter bracket. The installed supplemental gutter bracket is also generally not visible by the viewer standing on the ground after the gutter is installed upon the eave of the building. The supplemental gutter bracket also does not hand down or protrude into the gutter channel thereby impeding the flow of debris to the pre-selected downspout or outflow locations.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive supplemental gutter support bracket which adds strength when utilized in conjunction with a conventional gutter bracket.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a supplemental gutter support bracket which is not visible by the viewer standing on the ground after the gutter is installed upon the eave of the building.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a supplemental gutter support bracket which does not protrude into the gutter channel thereby impeding the flow of debris to the pre-selected downspout.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a supplemental gutter support bracket which is useful in the re-securing of an existing conventional gutter brackets which have become loose from the eave of the building to which they were attached. This is accomplished without forming a new nail hole within the eave.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a encased fastener to expediate the installation of the supplemental gutter support bracket.
These, and additional objects, advantages, features and benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification.